Archive
THE THING FROM ANOTHER WORLD – Dimitri Tiomkin
GREATEST SCORES OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY
Original Review by Craig Lysy
Producers Edward Lasker and Howard Hawks believed that the science fiction-horror novella “Who Goes There?” (1938) by John W. Campbell could be successfully adapted to the big screen. They hoped to tap into the public’s angst with how scientists had unleashed the atomic age and fundamentally changed the world. They purchased the film rights, and Hawks’ Winchester Pictures Production company would fund the project with RKO Pictures agreeing to distribute. Charles Lederer, Hawks and Ben Hecht collaborated in writing the screenplay, and Christian Nyby was tasked with directing. The cast did not feature any box office stars, and was comprised of Margaret Sheridan as Nikki Nicholson, Kenneth Tobey as Captain Patrick Hendry, Robert Cornthwaite as Dr. Arthur Carrington, and James Arness as the alien. Read more…
MADAME BOVARY – Miklós Rózsa
GREATEST SCORES OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY
Original Review by Craig Lysy
MGM Studios had a history of successfully adapting popular works of literature for the big screen. In that tradition, the 1857 French novel “Madame Bovary” by Gustave Flaubert was universally recognized as a classic of literature, which MGM believed merited a film presentation. The film rights were purchased, Pandro S. Berman was assigned production with a $2.076 million budget, Robert Ardey was hired to write the screenplay with instructions to maintain fidelity to the novel, and Vincente Minnelli was tasked with directing. A stellar cast was hired, including Jennifer Jones as Emma Bovary, Van Heflin as Charles Bovary, Louis Jourdan as Rodolphe Boulanger, and James Mason as Gustave Flaubert. Read more…
ONE HUNDRED MEN AND A GIRL – Charles Previn
GREATEST SCORES OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY
Original Review by Craig Lysy
In 1937 Universal Pictures decided to embark on a new musical comedy based on an original story by writer Hans Kraly. Joe Pasternak and Charles R. Rogers were assigned production with a $762,000 budget, Henry Koster was tasked with directing, and Kraly was hired to adapt his story and write the screenplay. For their cast, the studios premiere star Deanna Durbin, who was also a vocally trained soprano, would star as Patsy Cardwell. Joining her would be Adolphe Menjou as John Cardell, renown conductor Leopold Stokowski as himself, Eugene Pallette as John R, Frost, and Alice Brady as Mrs. Frost. Read more…
ONE NIGHT OF LOVE – Victor Schertzinger, Gus Kahn, Louis Silvers
GREATEST SCORES OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY
Original Review by Craig Lysy
Columbia Pictures was seeking a romantic musical set in the world of opera. Director Victor Schertzinger brought them a story “One Night of Love” by Charles Beahan and Dorothy Speare that seemed to fit the bill. Columbia executives were impressed and Schertzinger was given the green light to proceed with the project as director, Harry Cohn tasked with overseeing production with a budget of $500,000, and James Gow, S.K. Lauren, and Edmund H. North were hired to write the screenplay. A fine cast was assembled, which included Grace Moore as Mary Barrett, Tullio Carminati as Giulio Monteverdi, Lyle Talbot as Bill Houston, and Mona Barie as Lally. Read more…
THE BISHOP’S WIFE – Hugo Friedhofer
GREATEST SCORES OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY
Original Review by Craig Lysy
Samuel Goldwyn came across the novella “The Bishop’s Wife” (1928) by Robert Nathan and decided its tender family tale would translate well to the big screen. He would manage production using his own production company to fund the project, with RKO Pictures distributing. The film suffered repeated setbacks that led to Goldwyn sacking his director William A. Seiter and replacing him with Henry Coster, switching the actors for the two male lead roles, tearing down and rebuilding all the sets, and rewrites of the original screenplay of Leonardo Bercovici and Robert Sherwood, by Billy Wilder and Charles Brackett. A fine trio of actors were cast, including Cary Grant as Dudley the angel, Loretta Young as Julia Brougham, and David Niven as Bishop Henry Brougham. Read more…
BETWEEN TWO WORLDS – Erich Wolfgang Korngold
GREATEST SCORES OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY
Original Review by Craig Lysy
The play 1923 Outward Bound by Sutton Vane enjoyed successful theatrical runs in London and later on Broadway, where it achieved 144 performances. In 1943 Warner Brothers Studios decided to embark on a remake of their original fantasy film version of Outward Bound from 1930. Jack Warner and Mark Hellinger took charge of production, Edward A. Blatt was tasked with directing, and Daniel Fuchs was hired to write a new screenplay, incorporating story elements from both the original 1924 Broadway play and the 1930 film. A stellar cast was hired, including Paul Henreid as Henry Bergner, Eleanor Parker as Ann Bergner, Sydney Greenstreet as the Examiner, the Reverend Tim Thompson, Edmund Gwenn as Scrubby, John Garfield as Tom Prior, George Coulouris as Lingley, Faye Emerson as Maxine, Sara Allgood as Mrs. Midget, Dennis King as the Reverend Duke, Isobel Elsom as Genevieve Cliveden-Banks and Gilbert Emery as Benjamin Cliveden-Banks. Read more…
THE CONSTANT NYMPH – Erich Wolfgang Korngold
GREATEST SCORES OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY
Original Review by Craig Lysy
The 1924 novel The Constant Nymph by Margaret Kennedy was a popular sensation, which spawned a successful play by Basil Dean in 1926, and two movie incarnations; a 1928 silent film starring Ivor Novello and a 1933 talkie with Brian Aherne. Warner Brothers decided that they could offer a definitive film version and so bought the film rights from 20th Century Fox in 1940. The studio secured support from Kennedy to proceed and Henry Blanke and Hal B. Wallis were assigned production with a $1.1 million budget, Edmund Goulding was tasked with directing, and Kathryn Scola was hired to write the screenplay based on Basil Dean’s 1926 version. A superb cast was assembled, including; Joan Fontaine as Tessa Sanger, Charles Boyer as Lewis Dodd, and Alex Smith as Florence Creighton. Read more…
DEVOTION – Erich Wolfgang Korngold
GREATEST SCORES OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY
Original Review by Craig Lysy
In 1942 Warner Brothers decided to embark upon opulent period piece involving a fictionalized biopic of the renown Brontë sisters. Robert Buckner was assigned production with Keith Winter and Edward Chodorov hired to write the screenplay. Curtis Bernhardt was tasked with directing a lavish and opulent tale and a stellar cast was assembled, including Olivia de Havilland as Charlotte Brontë, Ida Lupino as Emily Brontë, Nancy Coleman as Anne Brontë, Paul Henreid as Reverend Arthur Nicholls and Sydney Greenstreet as the renowned publisher William Makepeace Thackeray. Read more…
MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING – Patrick Doyle
THROWBACK THIRTY
GREATEST SCORES OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
I will always maintain that, with the possible exception of Sir Laurence Olivier, the only director who can successfully translate Shakespeare to the big screen is Kenneth Branagh. His 1989 cinematic debut Henry V was a lightning bolt, doing away with stuffy line readings and instead embracing rich and complex emotions, thereby making the Bard’s prose modern and invigorating. He brought scenes to life with lavish settings and action sequences, and surrounded it all with rich, bold music. His second Shakespeare adaptation after Henry V was this one: Much Ado About Nothing, a romantic comedy first published in 1599. Read more…
DECEPTION – Erich Wolfgang Korngold
GREATEST SCORES OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY
Original Review by Craig Lysy
Warner Brothers Studios was searching for a film that would showcase two of their leading actors, Barbara Stanwyck and Paul Henried. To that end, late in 1943 they purchased the film rights to the 1927 two-character French play “Monsieur Lamberthier” by Louis Verneuil. They believed that the film noir drama would translate well for a suspenseful big screen adaptation. Henry Blanke was assigned production, provided a $2.882 million budget, and John Collier and Joseph Than were hired to write the screenplay. Irving Rapper was tasked with directing and a powerhouse cast for the ages was assembled, including luminaries; Bette Davis as Christine Radcliffe, Paul Henreid as Karel Novak, and Claude Rains as Alexander Hollenius. In the three years it took to launch the project, Bette Davis, whose star was ascendant, replaced Stanwyck for the lead role. Read more…
ON DANGEROUS GROUND – Bernard Herrmann
GREATEST SCORES OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY
Original Review by Craig Lysy
In 1951 director Nicholas Ray had just wrapped up shooting the WWII action film “The Flying Leathernecks” and decided that his next project would a film noir melodrama based on the 1945 novel “Mad With Much Heart” by Gerald Butler. RKO Pictures executives were initially resistant, finding the novel “unpleasant and uncommercial”, but were ultimately persuaded by Ray’s vision and passion. John Houseman was assigned production and A. I. Bezzerides was tasked with adapting Butler’s novel and writing the screenplay. For the cast, Ray hired Ida Lupino as Mary Malden, Robert Ryan as Jim Wilson, and Ward Bond as Walter Brent. Read more…
THE MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH – Bernard Herrmann
GREATEST SCORES OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY
Original Review by Craig Lysy
Alfred Hitchcock had directed in England, the film “The Man Who Knew Too Much” (1934). In 1941 he decided on a new American incarnation, but it did not come to fruition until 1956 when Paramount Pictures agreed it was a movie that could be well-adapted to the new decade. Filwite Productions joined with Paramount and provided a $1.2 million budget. Hitchcock would manage production and direct, and Charles Bennett and D. B. Wyndham-Lewis were tasked with writing the screenplay. A fine cast was assembled with James Stewart as Dr. Benjamin McKenna, Doris Day as Josephine Conway McKenna, Bernard Miles as Edward Drayton, Brenda de Banzie as Lucy Drayton Christopher Olsen as Henry McKenna, and Daniel Gélin as Louis Bernard. Read more…
ANCHORS AWEIGH – Jule Styne, Sammy Cahn, Georgie Stoll
GREATEST SCORES OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY
Original Review by Craig Lysy
Gene Kelly caught the eye of Hollywood studios who were impressed by his athletic American style of dancing, as well as his talent as a choreographer. Seeking to capitalize on his talent, MGM studios offered him a contract. This led them to task him to choreograph, dance and star in the studio’s next planned musical – “Anchors Aweigh”. The film was yet another one of MGM Studios penchant for musicals. It would be the first of three “Buddy” films, which teamed Gene Kelly with Frank Sinatra. Production was assigned to Joe Pasternak with a budget of $2.6 million, Natalie Marcin was hired to write the story, with Isobel Lennart writing the screenplay, and George Sidney was tasked with directing. For the cast, Frank Sinatra would star as Clarence “Brooklyn” Doolittle, Gene Kelly as Joe Brady and Kathryn Grayson as Susan Abbott. Read more…
THE NORTH STAR – Aaron Copland
GREATEST SCORES OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY
Original Review by Craig Lysy
In 1942 President Roosevelt created the Office of War Information (OWI) to serve as America’s official propaganda agency. The OWI pressured Hollywood studios to make war films that favorably represented the Soviet Union to generate public support given that they and America were now allies fighting Nazi Germany. Following a personal request by President Roosevelt, MGM executive Samuel Goldwyn decided to contribute with the film The North Star. Goldwyn, assisted by William Cameron Menzies, took charge of production with a $3 million budget. Lillian Hellman was hired to write the story and screenplay, and Lewis Milestone was tasked with directing. An exceptional cast was assembled, including Ann Baxter as Marina Pavlova, Dana Andrews as Kolya Simonov, Walter Huston as Dr. Pavel Grigorich Kurin, Walter Brennan as Karp, Ann Harding as Sophia Pavlova, Jane Withers as Clavdia Kurina, Farley Granger as Damian Simonov and Erich von Stroheim as Dr. von Harden. Read more…
THE PRISONER OF ZENDA – Alfred Newman, Conrad Salinger
GREATEST SCORES OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY
Original Review by Craig Lysy
With the onset of a new decade, MGM studio executives embarked on an ambitious plan to remake several popular black and white films in color. To that end, in 1951 they announced that they had purchased the film rights of “The Prisoner of Zenda” (1937) from David O. Selznick for $225,000. A creative decision was to use many of the same production elements as the 1937 film, including; the identical script, camera angles, setting and musical score. Pandro S. Berman was assigned production and provided a $1.708 million budget. Richard Thorpe was tasked with directing, and a stellar cast was assembled, which included; Stewart Granger as Rudolph Rassendyll, Deborah Kerr as Princess Flavia, James Mason as Rupert of Hentzau, Louis Calhern as Colonel Zapt, Robert Douglas as Michael, Duke of Strelsau, Jane Greer as Antionette de Mauban and Robert Coote as Fritz von Tarlenheim. Read more…
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